Joint Providership FAQs

The information provided to you is intended for educational purposes only. In no event shall AAOMS be liable for any decision made or action taken or not taken by you or anyone else in reliance on the information provided. For legal or other professional advice, you need to consult your own professional advisers.

Continuing dental education (CDE) consists of educational activities designed to review existing concepts and techniques, to convey information beyond the basic dental education and to update knowledge on advances in scientific, clinical, and non-clinical practice related subject matter, including evidence-based dentistry. The objective is to improve the knowledge, skills and ability of the individual to provide the highest quality of service to the public and the profession. All continuing dental education should strengthen the habits of critical inquiry and balanced judgment that denote the true professional and scientific person and should make it possible for new knowledge to be incorporated into the practice of dentistry as it becomes available. All educational activities offering CDE credit must be offered through an organization accredited by the American Dental Association Continuing Education Recognition Program (ADA CERP).

Continuing medical education (CME) consists of educational activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession. The content of CME is that body of knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by the profession as within the basic medical sciences, the discipline of clinical medicine, and the provision of health care to the public. All educational activities offering CME credit must be offered through an organization accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

Quality CDE and CME can enhance a participant's knowledge base and practice skills. CME credit is mandatory in many states for medical relicensure and CDE credit is mandatory in many states for dental relicensure.

The AAOMS Joint Providership program is available for use by State and Regional component societies of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. The program is also available for use by related, sister organizations.

The AAOMS education staff must be contacted as near the beginning of your educational activity planning as possible. Any activity planned without the knowledge or involvement of the AAOMS cannot be approved by AAOMS for CDE/CMEcredit.

An AAOMS education staff representative will assist your organization staff and educational activity course director(s) in designing your educational activity to be compliant with the guidelines and policies of the ADA CERP and ACCME.

An application for Joint Providership of an Educational Activity must be completed and submitted to AAOMS education staff for all prospective CDE/CME educational activities. Applications must be completed and submitted to AAOMS before decisions are made on any aspect of the planning process for which AAOMS review and approval is required. Applications must be completed in their entirety and all required supporting documentation must be submitted.

AAOMS requires that joint providership applications be submitted at least six (6) months (180 days) prior to the start of an educational activity. The six month requirement allows AAOMS to fulfill its role as an ADA CERP recognized provider and ACCME accredited provider and actively participate with you in the planning and development of your educational activities. AAOMS strongly encourages you to provide as much lead time as possible for your application.

All joint providership applications are formally reviewed by the AAOMS Committee on Continuing Education and Professional Development (CCEPD) and the AAOMS Board of Trustees (BOT). Review and approval of any application is contingent upon receipt of required information. The AAOMS reserves the right to discontinue joint providership of an educational activity at any time if the activity is found to be non-compliant with ADA CERP and/or ACCME guidelines, standards and policies.

The review process timing will vary, but may take as long as three months or as short as one week. The CCEPD is comprised of AAOMS members who volunteer their time to review joint providership applications. The availability of the reviewers and the complexity of each submission determine the time required for a thorough review of an application. Applications approved by the CCEPD will be forwarded to the AAOMS Board of Trustees for final review and approval, which will add additional time to the overall process. Upon submission of your completed application and required materials, AAOMS education staff can provide you with an estimated date for a decision from the CCEPD. To assure that your application is received and reviewed in time for you to promote your organization's educational activity; we strongly encourage applicants to adhere to the six months or more requirement.

Promotional materials for educational activities jointly provided by AAOMS may NOT be distributed prior to approval of the joint providership application and without AAOMS approval of the materials. You may distribute "save the date" announcements to inform prospective participants about the educational activity that is being developed. "Save the date" announcement may only state the name, date and location of an activity and may not state that "joint providership has been applied for" or "credit has been applied for." "Save the date" announcements may not solicit registrations from prospective participants.

Applicants are notified, in writing (electronically), of the CCEPD and BOT's decision to approve, approve with modifications or deny applications. If the application is approved with modifications, the modifications must be made before full approval is granted. If the application is denied, the reasons for denial will be clearly stated in the notification. The primary reasons for denying joint providership approval include: failure of the applicant to abide by the conditions and requirements outlined in the joint providership application; a determination by the CCEPD that the activity does not meet the definitions of CDE and CME ; and scheduling an educational activity that conflicts with a directly-provided AAOMS activity. In some instances, and with sufficient lead time, some of these obstacles are remediable.

Upon approval of your application, AAOMS will provide your organization with a Letter of Agreement (LOA) for your educational activity. The Letter of Agreement will detail the specific responsibilities and duties for your organization, as well as AAOMS, for the continued development, presentation and post-presentation activities for your educational activity. Upon receipt of a signed and executed copy of the Letter of Agreement, AAOMS education staff will provide you with additional information and materials for use with your educational activity.

AAOMS will provide your organization with the following information and materials:

Sample speaker agreement. Your organization should utilize an agreement document to secure the services of your speaker(s). This document is used to convey specific information to your speaker(s) about their presentations along with what they can expect from your organization, as well as what your organization expects from the speaker(s).

Sample disclosure and resolution of relevant conflicts of interest forms. All individuals involved in the planning, development and presentation of an approved CDE/CME educational activity must disclose any relevant commercial interests to the audience. Individuals involved in the planning, development and presentation of an educational activity include planning committee members, speakers, moderators, officers and organization staff. Completed disclosure forms must be collected as well as the resolution of those conflicts of interest prior to the presentation of the educational activity. The disclosure and resolution information collected must be provided to educational activity participants prior to the start of the activity with documentation how that was implemented.

AAOMS Policy on Disclosure of Relevant Conflicts of Interest. The policy should be used in conjunction with the disclosure form to inform your planner(s) and speaker(s) of the specific reasons for requiring disclosure.

The AAOMS reserves the right to discontinue joint providership of an educational activity at any time if the activity is found to be non-compliant with ADA CERP and/or ACCME guidelines, standards and policies. Applicant organizations will first be notified, in writing, of non-compliance issues and afforded the opportunity to make necessary corrections. Following a period of time specified by AAOMS, if non-compliance issues are not rectified, AAOMS will notify the applicant organization in writing of the decision to discontinue the joint providership relationship.

Unless specifically requested by your organization, AAOMS staff does not need to attend your activity. If AAOMS staff participation is requested, your organization will be required to reimburse normal expenses like hotel and airfare.